Spotify Becomes a Music Platform — At a posh press event in Manhattan's Greenwich Village on Wednesday, freemium music subscription service Spotify revealed the “new direction” at which it has been hinting: a new API (application programming interface) that will let any developer …

Say hello to Spotify Apps — We're introducing a new world inside Spotify. It's a world where there's even more music for you to discover and a ton of new experiences to be enjoyed. Spotify Apps are here! — Spotify Apps are a bunch of cool, exciting and integrated apps inside Spotify …

Spotify with apps pictures and hands-on — According to Spotify “There's a new world inside Spotify” and that means apps. But do you want them, are they any good, or is the music streaming service just jumping on the apps bandwagon in an attempt to make us all believe that it is something more than just a streaming music service?

Spotify's app platform: That's it? — Spotify launched its app platform Wednesday, making it possible for third-party developers to run apps right within the music service. This move was predicted by some ahead of the company's mystery event, but few had gotten it completely right - and many will be left disappointed by the details.

Alibaba-Led Group Said to Prepare Yahoo Bid — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. (9984) are in advanced talks with Blackstone Group LP (BX) and Bain Capital LLC about making a bid for all of Yahoo! Inc., said three people with knowledge of the matter.

Will Yahoo turn out to be an egg on its buyer's face? — Last night a source of mine sent me a text message about spotting Jerry Yang and David Filo (in a suit) at Palo Alto's Four Seasons Hotel in company of some serious looking men, who spend a lot of time (and money) appearing to be self-important …

AT&T Mulls Joint Venture With T-Mobile's Parent — AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG, the parent of T-Mobile USA, have discussed forming a joint venture that would pool network assets from the two U.S. wireless carriers as an alternative transaction if their current acquisition deal falls apart, people familiar with the matter said.

Chart of the day, Apple valuation edition — Andy Zaky at Bullish Cross has a great post on Apple's valuation, showing the astonishing degree to which the market is discounting the value of a dollar of Apple's earnings today, compared to just two years ago. Back then, it was worth $32; now, it's worth just $13.

Netflix Viewing Seen Swelling U.S. Cable Bills — Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and U.S. pay- TV companies, weighing how to profit from surging Internet demand spurred by Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Hulu, are on the verge of instituting new fees on Web-access customers who use the most.

New Apple Board Member Bob Iger Buys $1M In AAPL Shares — Newly appointed Apple board member and Disney president and CEO Bob Iger purchased 2,670 shares of Apple stock on the open market, according to a filing with the SEC. The average purchase price of the shares was roughly $375, valuing the purchase at $1,001,250.

Internet sales tax fight returns to Congress — eBay is preparing to amplify its attack on a proposed law that would usher in sales taxes on Internet shopping, CNET has learned. — The online auctioneer plans to tell a congressional panel considering the legislation tomorrow that the measure …

Whitman: HP Decision on webOS Coming Within Two Weeks — Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman just gave an interview to Le Figaro, a French newspaper, saying that a decision on what to do with HP's webOS software will come within the next two weeks. — Here's the key quote, courtesy of Google Translate:

MTA hands Apple ‘unique’ lease at Grand Central — Apple is poised to reap a bonanza in Grand Central Terminal — but it won't be sharing any upside with the landlord. — As reported by The Post, the money-minting iPad maker is gearing up for a splashy opening next weekend …

Android 4.0 for x86 processors released to developers — Google's Android development team has released Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.1) for x86 chipsets as part of their promise to open up Android for Intel and AMD systems. The release isn't fully stable — missing sound, camera …

Samsung unveils Cortex-A15 2GHz Exynos 5250 SoC — Samsung has just unveiled a new System-on-chip (SoC) for future mobile devices. It's the Exynos 5250 that boasts two Cortex-A15 chips clocked at 2GHz. The dual-core Exynos 5250 is created using a 32nm-low power HKMG process and is said to double …

Dell Will Drop the Flashy Vegas Act for CES This Year — Dell's presence at the Consumer Electronics Show the past few years has been hard to miss. This year, it may be hard to find. Sources say the company is scaling back its participation in the annual trade show — drastically.

ACLU asks Apple to fix Siri's birth-control glitch on iPhone — Siri isn't helpful on requests for birth control or abortion clinics. — It's funny how Siri works. She will tell you where you can find an escort, drugs, or guns but can't seem to help if you are seeking birth control or abortion clinics.

Microsoft: No Silverlight 5 release in November — Summary: Microsoft didn't make its own deadline of releasing to the Web version 5 of Silverlight. And there's still no word as to when and if the Softies will talk about the platform's future. — Microsoft officials said earlier this fall …

Early Termination Fee Be Damned — I Want My iPhone — How badly do some folks want a new iPhone? — Badly enough to eat an early termination fee to get one. — A survey by newly-founded Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that many consumers were willing to break …